Skylon Tower AWFULLLL~! (Niagara Falls-REVIEW)

My date and I decided to do a lover's retreat a la Niagara Falls.We wanted to do the typical touristy areas and go to the SKYLON TOWER for dinner

We went for a Valentine's Day dinner and it was superbly AWFUL~!

I had made reservations early in the week and the only time available was 10pm.So yes, we were H-U-N-G-R-Y.

Our waiter, clueless, yet jolly BUT sheesh......enough about YOU sir~!(I know it’s annoying when a waiter DOESN'T speak much, but it is even MORE annoying when the Server comes up to your table does the tacky "where yaaa (yes yaaa) from" speech and then proceeds to tell us about his life, and wanting to live "where YAAAA from" and how the economy is bad, how tonight is so buzy, how they normally close at 11pm, but it looks like he will be stuck there later)........zzzzzzzzzzzzzz

He offered us water (Evian or Perrier). I looked at my date to ask what he preferred, Flat or Sparkling.

The waiter then states to us "oh the Evian is a flat water and the Perrier is a sparkling"Thanks for that Einstein.

We chose the Evian.And then ordered a bottle of over-priced 2003 Montecillo Crianza Rioja

5 minutes later our Waiter comes over with the WATER..((((...um Evian--flat (in case you all were wondering;) ))))And Waiter then states 'hey guys haven't forgotten about you, wine coming"

Eventually he came over with our wine and starts OPENING it.I ask to SEE THE LABEL.....Come on. It's not a bottle of Doctor Pepper!!!!Waiter states "oh I totally forgot about that" Seriously, I felt like we were in some Twilight Zone movie.

This place should have better servers for the prices. It is a total tourist trap.We knew that going in, but thought lets do it for our night of Amourrrrrrrrr.

We were not mean or rude to our Server. We JUST wanted some wine, good food.....it was now 10:30pm.(((stomach growls)))

As he um tries to open the wine, we chose to order everything right then

We order escargot, the Gruyere garlic bread, and a Caesar salad.And for the mains: Filet Mignon and a NY Steak.

I didn't get a chance to even take a breath and our server jumped right in with"steak done, HOW?".......what the....? ME Tarzan, YOU Jane.

My date made a bet with me."bet we don't see our Appetizers within 20minutes"

I won. We got the escargot within 5 minutes. LITERALLY 5 minutes.

My date was extremely hungry, but I suggested a fork test as the escargot didn't 'look right'

Sure enough; it came in an escargot dish with Parmesan cheese sprinkled on it.It was NOT hot and bubbling at all. More like the escargot was placed in lukewarm water andleft under the heat lamp. Seriously. Nasty Nasty stuff. (Wish I had taken a photo for you all:(

We waited another 20 minutes.

Other 2 appetizers NO SHOW

We then decided it just wasn't working out.

Called over for a Manager. Told him we wanted a fun-filled Niagara Falls Valentine's Day but this was ridiculous.

Told him the escargot was terrible and there was no way we would pay for it, but we would pay for the wine.

The Manager then states "okay then, and I see you have a bottle of Evian here also"

WOW, talk about cheap. (Yes we paid for that also, just wanted the hell out of Dodge)And my date even TIPPED the Server...good man that man:)

Another thing. The place was packed. SO packed that it looked like they brought in extra tables. They had deuces in the MIDDLE of the restaurant walking area and looking at the couples seated at them, you could tell they were NOT impressed. It was like a Snickers Bar "packed with peanuts.."

Servers were huddled in a little area while Managers (or MR.X as we called him) stood around starring into space. Friggin' priceless!

TERRIBLE simply awful~!The Server also told us they had just renovated and were closed for a few weeks and that this night it was the busiest since New Years and with the economy, the restaurant has been very slow.

Nice. So if you knew you were totally booked, why then did you not have enough staff on.????

Which brings me to another subject;Have some PERIPHERAL vision please!!!! When we tried to get someone/anyone's attention, no one even blinked. It was almost comical. Server, Managers standing around.

Where should they have been?Perhaps doing table checks at all the tables with frowns and expediting food when it is HOT and not bringing out food that isn't cooked properly or at the right temperature.

I am sure I have left out a lot. But seriously...True story. It was a Valentine's Day Massacre Evening for SURE~!!!!

VERY GLAD we didn't stay for the Entrées

Also if you look at the dinner menu PRICES at the Skylon Tower, one would think that the service and food would be equal. (I think the prices at the Skylon are even HIGHER than the CN Tower's Restaurant). Really.

Queenston Heights Restaurant. Best when it's daylight though and they're closed during the winter. But if you're there in the summer looking for a romantic spot. Ask for a window seat. They say they don't reserve them but I'm 2 for 2 with it.

The one at the CN Tower gets slammed all the time but when we went there we enjoyed it. It wasn't great but perhaps since we weren't expecting much, we weren't disapointed. Pretty good food with a million dollar view. We had a nice bottle of wine too.

I would agree. I had a nice lunch there last summer. I was quite surprised. Especially when I thought back to a dinner I had several years back. I really think they took it up a significant notch. Keep your expectations low, and you'll be pleasantly surprised (if you have to do the whole touristy/romantic date thing). That, and order the Caesar salad.

Hilarious review though. Sorry to hear you had a terrible Vday. Sorry, shoulda warned you about Skylon. I had the pleasure of dining there about 4 years back. Never again.

Frais----Oh have been to Niagara Falls several times, different restaurantsand this was the FIRST bad experience......

TorontoFastfoodie---NOT sure what RM is??????

But the space was lovelyNEW hardwood floors etcJust not so good with the way they stuck in extra tablesthose poor poor couples left in the runway of the restaurant(seriously they were about 3 inches apart from regular tables)BAD CHOICE on the restaurants part

Wasn't that place featured on RM at one point? It was pictured as horrid on the show & I guess some minor renovations have not changed much...And for the record, I do like the CN tower restaurant. I think we are not supposed to like it because it is such a tourist attraction, but it is good food with an incomparable view.

I think that makeover was at the other tower restaurant at the falls, probably 4 years ago. The place had new owners and almost everything was canned or frozen. I have no idea whether the food is any good there nowadays, but I did look at their menu. While no bargain, it is MUCH cheaper than the Skylon - about $15 - $40 cheaper on similar mains and proportionately cheaper on other courses. Same Falls ;-)